from George Richards of the Miami Herald,

A number of Florida Panthers players have been in South Florida preparing for their upcoming season.

On Friday, a good many of them will jet out of the path of a Category 5 hurricane.

The Panthers chartered a plane to shuttle players, staff members and their families to Boston.

The team is paying for the flight and could open training camp in Springfield, Massachusetts, next week depending on the extent of the damage in and around Broward County.

continued